REVISED - it's a illness that looks like a "cold" - Sick or injured pullet

[kittybethaustin]

I came home today to find one of my 2 month old Marans pullets huddle by a bush in the grow out pen. She was sleeping while everyone else was running around crazy over the fresh greens I threw into the pen. I don't see any visible sign of injury other than some of the feathers on one wing are kind of matted as if they have dried slobber on them. It's just one spot though. If a predator picked her up, I would think the matted feathers would be in more than just one smallish area. And the feathers are intact. They're just soiled a bit. She's keeping her eyes closed but she's moving around okay when I move her to feed or water. I see no sign of illness other than eyes closed and the hunched up sleeping when everyone was being active. I looked in her eyes and didn't see anything obviously wrong. She seemed fine yesterday, so if it's illness it's sudden onset.

I've brought her inside and put her in a brooder box to keep her away from the other pullets outside. I gave her some water by dropper when I first brought her in. Now she's trying to eat. She's a bit clumsy about it since she's still keeping her eyes mostly closed. What else can I do for her? -Beth

 

[kittybethaustin]

[COLOR=rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.670588)]I think this is an eye injury. Once I got her inside under good light, I noticed the right eye is weeping and that's the source of the matting on the feathers. That's the spot where she had her head tuck up by her wing. The left eye seems okay. She will open it on occasion but not the left eye. I tried to rinse both eyes with saline but that's hard to do with the inner eyelid remaining closed. I did not see any debris. [/COLOR]

 

[kittybethaustin]

Today there are three more pullets showing signs of illness. Weepy eyes and crusty nostrils. What do I do now? I've removed the visibly ill birds from the pen but is that going to do any good at this point? I will get some antibiotic at the feed store tomorrow. Everyone is still eating and drinking and moving about. I don't know what particular illness this is. Any ideas? Can a vet tell me if I take one of them in? These are all two month old pullets. They are luckily in a far distant pen and coop from my laying hens. I have a second, unused pen I could use for the ill birds but it's only about 15-20 feet from the one they're in now. Is that far enough away to help slow the spread of the illness? Currently the ill ones are in the house in a brooder box but there's not room for any more in the house if more get sick.

 

[Eggcessive]

Did you get the Marans chicks from a breeder? Do you have wild birds that feed near your chickens? It sounds like one of the respiratory diseases such as MG, infectious bronchitis, coryza, or ILT is affecting your pullets. Is there any bad smell from the heads of the sick ones that could point to coryza? Tylan 50 injectable is a very good antibiotic to treat respiratory diseases or the secondary infections that can occur. Coccidiosis is also common at this age, and can sometimes be another problem at the same time. Is there any diarrhea or blood in the stools? Corid is needed for coccidiosis. A sulfa drug antibiotic called sulfadimethoxine treats some strains of coccidiosis, and also is good for treatment of coryza. The respiratory diseases can make carriers of your flock. Use good biosecurity with your birds, carefully washing hands and being careful with clothes and shoes. MG fortunately doesn't travel very far in the air. Testing can be done to tell you what you are dealing with by the state vet. Here are a couple of links to read:
http://www.the-chicken-chick.com/2012/12/coccidiosis-what-backyard-chicken.html
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/ps044
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/animal_health/animal_dis_spec/poultry/states/texas.pdf

 

[kittybethaustin]

Eggcessive, thanks for the info. I'll review the links you provided. Their poop looks normal and I don't notice a smell from the birds.

Just came in from the coop and found two more with symptoms. I had to wait until they were roosting to be able to make sure I'd looked at each one. So 6 of 26 are ill in two days. I'm sure there are more to come.

Most of the birds were hatchery but five came from a breeder who practices very good biosecurity as far as I could tell and has an excellent reputation. I've been so good about isolating new birds, but I did fudge it with the breeder birds I bought a couple of weeks ago. I suppose those I should have been more careful with instead of less. Those seem to be doing fine so far though.

I had a neighbor come over tonight and collect eggs and lock up the laying hens for the night. I didn't want to go near them since I'm currently contaminated from handling the others. I will be careful to not wear contaminated shoes or clothing into their area. I've washed my hands about 20 times tonight! Even spraying diluted bleach on them a few times. Each time I find a sick one, I clean my hands again before handling another one. I need to get some less rough on my skin than bleach though.

I have not seen wild birds feeding with them but I would consider it a possibility whether I witness it or not. The pen is not fully covered due to a tall tree and shrub that's in the pen. I'll be working on closing it up more fully in spite of the greenery.

I'm really hoping this doesn't become a disease that turns them into carriers. I'm raising some of these birds for my Mom and won't be able to give them to her if it could spread disease to her flock. That will make both me and her very disappointed!

 

[Eggcessive]

Are the chickens sneezing? Infectious bronchitis will go completely through a flock very quickly. It can be a mild disease on grown chickens, but harder on younger birds. Getting one tested or sacrificing one for a necropsy could identify the disease. IB will only make carriers of chickens for up to a year after recovery. The other respiratory diseases cause lifetime problems.

 

[kittybethaustin]

No sneezing that I've noticed. Just some gummy noses and watery eyes. Only the first bird who got sick is a bit lethargic. Still eating and drinking this morning. I'm taking one to the vet today. I had to locate a vet who works with chickens. Didn't know I was going to need to have a chicken vet when I started out on this venture! I really want to know what this is if possible.